Child of Mine
by horacethepig
Summary: After Hermione gives birth to a daughter after being violated by a muggle crime lord, Rita Skeeter stirs up a vicious press campaign against the Weasleys, the Potters and their allies. How do you defeat public opinion...?
1. Chapter 1: The Cuckoo is a Fine Bird

The rights to Rex Milligan belong to the late Anthony Buckeridge. Those to Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling. Those to the Dana girls, Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and others to the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Other rights belong to Marvel Comics, DC Comics/Warner Brothers/Hanna-Barbera, Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, the BBC, Jim Butcher, Joss Whedon, Terrance Dicks, the estates of the late Enid Blyton, the late Charles Addams, the late Malcolm Saville, the late Ian Fleming, the late Peter O'Donnell, the late and more. I own nothing and make claim to the same nothing.

February 2019, St Mungo's Hospital

"Just one more push, love!" Ron spoke encouragingly. " _Our_ child shall be born soon."

"I know, darling," Hermione replied. "This is my third time, you know. Giving birth is bloody hard!"

"We have the crowning," the midwife noted. "Any minute now…"

Within a few minutes, Hermione heard a slap and a cry. "Mr and Mrs Weasley, you have a daughter. Would you like to see her?"

This was the moment Hermione was dreading. Nine months before, she had been effectively raped on the Caribbean island of Saint Marie, having been forced by a muggle gangster Buonaparte Ignace Gallia IV to sleep with her to save a fellow captive from torture or worse. Whilst the fact that Detective Sergeant Florence Cassell of the Saint Marie police was safe had made her forced participation to in Gallia's "breed a seer" scheme, facilitated by one Mundungus Fletcher, worthwhile, not knowing if her husband or her rapist was the father was killing her. True, Gallia was dead (like his namesake great-grandfather, eaten by fauna after a confrontation with one James Bond), Fletcher in Azkaban and Ron had assured her many times that he would be the _father_ regardless of paternity, but now was the real moment of truth…

" _She's gorgeous, love!_ " Ron said, clearly entranced.

Hermione had to admit that the new-born infant was beautiful. _She has my brown curly hair, but her nose and skin tone… Harriet's her half-sister!_ Gallia had a previous daughter by another witch, whom he had named Bernadette Imogene Gallia. After his death, two muggle friends of hers had adopted her as Harriet Jean Luna Milligan. The new daughter clearly resembled Harriet more than Rose.

On the plus side, Ron had been great. She had never been so sure of her love for him and his for her. The Potters and Weasleys were as great as ever. Pansy and Tracey (rape victims both themselves) had been an ever-present source of comfort and support. _Three years ago, I would have laughed if anyone had said Pansy Parkinson would be one of my most treasured friends. Well, Pansy Potter is, and she is to be rewarded…_

"Hope Pansy Weasley," Hermione said softly but clearly. "Ron, do you…?"

"It's perfect, she's perfect and you're perfect, my darling," Ron assured her, kissing her softly on the lips.

"Ron, we have to face facts. Hope is a cuckoo in the nest…"

 _"_ _The cuckoo is a fine bird he sings as he flies,_

 _He brings us good tidings and tells us no lies._

 _He sucks the sweet flowers to make his voice clear,_

 _And the more he cries cuckoo, the summer is near."_

As Ron finished singing the first verse of the old folk song, Hermione smiled despite herself. _Yes, this cuckoo might be female, but she's a bloody fine bird alright! Ron, Rose, Hugo, Hope and I shall all be OK…_

Pansy Potter cradled her ten-month-old son Sirius in her arms. _Tracey and I may have been raped over a longer period than poor Hermione, but those bastards never got us in the pudding club, as hers might have done. Oh Merlin! I hope it's Ron's!_

Everyone in the now vastly extended Potter-Weasley family was there. Luna, Rolf, Neville, Hannah, Susan and the Patils were also gathered around for support. Rex Milligan was nearby, his arm around his wife Louise, the elder of the two Dana sisters. Their adopted daughter Harriet was staying with her Auntie Jean and her wife Linda Dana-Craig at the _Rancho del Sol_ in South California, learning how to rope a steer when not at the Serafina Picquery Elementary School on the outskirts of New York, taken there each day by Portal. As a squib daughter of a witch, Harriet was welcome at the school Gomez Addams had set up to provide a good primary education for mages, squibs and the relatives of no-maj-born wizards. _The_ _Quibbler_ 's Muggle Correspondent since late 1999 and the honorary big brother of Luna Scamander, Rex was considered very much one of the British Wizards' own. The four Scamanders were gathered along with the Milligans, very much one family.

Millicent "Millie" Potter (nee Bulstrode), blood-adopted as a sister by Harry back in Summer 2016, held her beloved wife Pansy close, planting a soft kiss on their son Sirius' (conceived by IVF, with Harry as the sperm donor) forehead. After being forced into a plot against the Potters, Millie had changed sides after an encounter with the extradimensional entity known as Aslan. The story of the bullying inflicted on Millie, Pansy and Tracey (and rape in the case of the last two) during the Carrows' reign of terror at Hogwarts had come to light. Harry had arranged with Diana Prince for the three women, plus Tracey's long-term girlfriend Daphne Greengrass, to receive training and therapy on Themyscira. Millie had been chosen by the Six Goddesses to become the alter ego of Wonder Witch, the British Wizard World's very own superheroine. It amused her that the "fattest and ugliest girl at Hogwarts" had ended up as the British World's most popular pin-up! Well, the costume flattered her tall muscular form far more than Hogwarts' robes ever had. Having found True Love with Pansy and a loving family in the Potters had done her good too. Harry and Ginny also got the couple jobs as the Auror Department's Archivist and Ginny's PA respectively and converted 12 Grimmauld Place's attic into a self-contained flat for them.

Daphne Greengrass had been forced to consort to Harry by a law restored when Lucius Malfoy had briefly taken over the British magical world just over a year before, despite her own pre-existing marriage to Tracey Davis. The now Daphne and Tracey Greengrass-Potter were cooing over their three-month-old daughter Dora Greengrass-Potter (conceived by Daphne and Harry in the traditional manner) asleep in her crib. Harry was close to the cot as well, his arms around Ginny and Wednesday. The former Wednesday Addams had had a three-way with Harry and Ginny when they were imprisoned in another dimension nearly two years before. The Potters had proposed to her the next day and married her that summer.

Susan Bones had been caught by the same law as Daphne and asked Neville and Hannah Longbottom to marry her, having been secretly in love with them both for many years. She was very pleased with being Susan Amelia Bones-Longbottom. Now, Pansy, Daphne, Tracey, Ginny, Susan, the Patil twins, Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell, Astoria Malfoy and Gabrielle Delacour were the alter egos of the Furies, Wonder Witch's superpowered support act. Their true identities were closely guarded by the wizard authorities, as they went by Wrath, Protectress, Vendetta, Lioness, Nemesis, Justice, Grace, Tracker, Pursuer, Warrior and Allure respectively when Furies.

Ron poked his head out of the delivery room. "Can you all come in briefly, please? Hermione and I have a little someone to introduce you to!"

The little gang went in. "This," Ron said proudly, "is Hope Pansy Weasley, _our daughter!_ "

"She's beautiful, my dears," Molly Weasley said softly. "I can't wait to hold _my new granddaughter._ Congratulations to you both."

"Pansy, can you pass Sirius to Millie please?" Hermione asked. "I want to hand Hope to her _namesake_ and _godmother_ …"

Pansy gasped in delight and then kissed Hermione's forehead softly before hugging her tightly. Once the two had ended their embrace, Pansy picked Hope up and kissed her forehead. "I'm pleased to meet you, Hope.

"Thank you for the honour, Hermione, Ron. I'll be there for you all…"

"As you have been throughout," Ron smiled, pulling Pansy in for a quick cuddle.

Pansy handed Hope to Molly. "Thank you, dear.

"I meant it, Hermione my dear. Hope is a Weasley. Whatever contribution that _monster_ made, you were a victim and Hope is not _his child, but Ron's!_ "

"Thank you, Mum," Hermione choked back a sob, before looking at her own parents. "Mum, Dad…"

"You were _raped_ , Hermione," her father told her softly. "You may have consented technically, but I dread to think what that _bastard_ would have done to that poor detective woman that was your fellow captive. Hope is our granddaughter and we love her just as much as Rose and Hugo."

Hermione shuddered. _Luckily, poor Florence wasn't fed alive to Gallia's crocodiles, but it was a damn close-run thing! Now, Hope will always be a reminder of those minutes chained naked to Gallia's bed. Unlike the nightmares, though, I will welcome this result as my beautiful little girl._

"I don't think that I would have had the guts to do this, Hermione," Ginny said softly. "To carry and keep a child born not through Harry's love, but forced on me by a monstrous stranger.

"If any couple can do it, it is you and Ron. Ron's brawn and your brains have always made a formidable team. Raising Hope will test you both like nothing before…"

"It won't be easy, Gin," Hermione agreed, "but our love is strong.

"By the way, you, Harry and Wednesday are strong yourselves. Don't do yourself down!"

Shortly afterwards, a tired Hermione said goodbye to her friends and had a well-deserved nap. Later, Ron brought Hugo to Saint Mungo's, with Hannah bringing Rose there from Hogwarts. Both children immediately took a liking to their baby half-sister.

When they had gone, Hermione fed Hope and went back to sleep. All was well.

At no stage over the previous few hours, however, had anyone noticed what looked like a beetle on the nearest windowsill…

"Harry, Millie, Wednesday," rumbled Kingsley Shacklebolt the following morning, "have you all seen this?" He produced a newspaper entitled _The Daily Owl Post_.

" _That_ is a ghastly wizard tabloid, with a certain Ms Skeeter as the chief feature writer," Harry noted. "It was first established nearly three months ago, Kingsley, with a pro-pureblood-elite agenda. You know that as well as I do!

"We established press freedom back in 1998, after the Battle of Hogwarts. If she has libelled someone, that is a civil court matter, not for us Aurors to deal with!"

"There is a picture of Ron and Hermione on the cover of that issue, _mon amour_ ," Wednesday noted. "I take it that this is today's issue, _mon cher_ Kingsley? What are they saying about Ron and Hermione?"

"Read it for yourself, Wednesday! It is a new low even by Rita's exalted standards…"

Wednesday quickly scanned the first few pages of the newspaper Kingsley had been brandishing. "Ms Skeeter has outdone herself, Harry. Apparently, women can't conceive a child by rape, so Hope's skin colour can only be a sign that Hermione merely had a _casual sexual encounter_ with Gallia!"

" _What?!_ Surely not even Rita…?"

"It gets worse! Even if Hermione _did_ save a muggle detective's life by her actions, that was insufficient reason for jeopardising the bloodline of a Sacred Twenty-Eight Family. Indeed, the Weasleys and allied families giving this _FitzGallia_ infant the surname Weasley is a sign that these Houses should be stripped of senior status.

"All of us should be removed from our positions of power forthwith and replaced by _the right sort of mage._ Those who support _muggle moral degeneracy_ shouldn't be Aurors, teachers, prosecutors or hold any senior ministry position.

"I must tell my Dad…"

"What can he do, Wednesday?" Millie asked. "Gomez Addams doesn't have any shares in _The Daily Owl Post_. As tempting as it is, Wonder Witch and her Furies and the Secret Circle can't offer anything more than moral support against a journalist with a poison pen." The Secret Circle was a wizard task force founded by Dr Stephen Strange.

"None of the official press statements have mentioned Hope's skin colour," Harry mused. "Rita could only have known about that, and Ron and Molly's comments, if she was at St Mungo's in her Animagus form. That is criminal trespass and a breach of privacy at the very least…"

"Equally, it could be an investigative reporter looking into people of public interest, Harry. Rita could easily make a strong case for that."

"You are right, Millie. We must tell Ron and Hermione. Luckily, our homes, the Ministry and Hogwarts all have wards against Animagi in place.

"I'll also contact the Scamanders. We might need to counter Rita's _Alternative Facts_ with _The Truth_ …"

"Well, _mon amour_ , we have an investigative journalist of our own…"

Southern California, near to the border with Mexico, is divided into two basic environments, the so-called Coastal and Desert Regions. Rocky Beach, home to the Three Investigators, and Crystal Cove, where Mystery Inc were based, were in the densely-populated Coastal Region. The _Rancho del Sol_ , however, was in the much more sparsely inhabited Desert Region, an area of corals and ranches far from the glamour of Hollywood. The siblings Bob and Linda Craig had inherited the ranch from their late maternal grandparents and live in its hacienda. Linda is rated as the finest horsewoman in the former young adventurers' community and Bob is a skilled mechanic. Chica d'Oro (Golden Girl) is Linda's beautiful golden palomino, kept young like Bob and Linda themselves by the Royal Jelly Honey _elixir vitae_ that Sherlock Holmes had developed by exposing honeybees to a rare flower and fragments of an irradiated meteorite from Yorkshire. Horse and rider have developed such a rapport that it is almost telepathic. Linda jokes that it is due to their shared Hispanic blood.

Rarely could siblings look less alike than Bob and Linda. Whilst both are tall and slender, Bob is sandy-haired and freckled, reflecting the Craig Scottish ancestry. Linda (short for Rosalinda), two years his junior, is dark-eyed and olive-skinned, with a mane of raven hair, taking after her Hispanic mother. The pair were in the hacienda's kitchen, Bob cooking the dinner whilst Linda was passionately kissing her wife. Jean Dana-Craig is also tall and slender, but with blonde hair. At a nearby table, Harriet Milligan, a curly-haired dark-skinned brunette, was drawing happily. Her adopted parents Rex and Louise were keeping an eye on her. Rex is tall and dark-haired, whilst Louise is a tall slender brunette with soft brown eyes. Louise and Rex had agreed to join Jean, Linda and Bob for a few days, wanting to spend time together.

Rex's mobile ringtone sounded. He answered it. _"Hi Luna!... I'm at the Rancho del Sol… Yes, it is hot and sunny in the Californian desert, funnily enough… Louise, Harriet, Jean, Linda and Bob are all well… And Rolf and the twins?... That's good!... What?! Fossilised Fishhooks!... Come through the portal later… Love you too, little sis! See you then… Bye!_ "

"Is something wrong, my love?" Louise asked.

"Everyone's least favourite witch journalist Rita Skeeter has struck again, apparently. Luna is going to be taking the portal to here from _The Quibbler_ office shortly.

"That reminds me, darling. We need to get Harriet to the _Serafina Picquery Elementary School_ soon. Are you ready, Harriet dear?"

"Yes. Coming, Mommy, Daddy. Goodbye Aunties Jean and Linda and Uncle Bob." Harriet kissed them quickly on the cheeks before following her adoptive parents to one of the full-length mirrors off the hall that could be activated as portals to various destinations.

A few minutes later, Rex and Louise came back through the same portal, just before a second glowed right and Luna Scamander came through. After hugging them both tightly, she followed them into the kitchen. Linda was out riding Chica d'Oro and Bob was busy repairing a tractor, so Jean was acting as hostess.

"This is the latest edition of _The Daily Owl Post_. Please read the first five pages, Rex, and let me know what you think."

"Certainly, Luna. I take it that poor Hermione has been given yet another pasting in print by the human beetle?! Well, I did warn Ms Skeeter that I would give her a lesson in investigative journalism that she will never forget should she target my friends again.

"And… _Crystallised Cheesecakes!_ What _century_ is Rita living in?! Who believes that _genuinely raped_ women don't conceive these days?!

"It is a good job that pureblood witches and wizards are rarely if ever racist. The only interest Rita has in Hope's colour is that it shows who the _biological_ father is."

"I don't know, Rex," Jean commented. "Some politicians here in the States have expressed similar views on _legitimate rape rarely if ever producing children._ They are usually extreme anti-abortionists, trying to justify no exceptions for rape and incest.

"I don't know Ms Skeeter as well as you both do. Is she a fervent pro-lifer?"

"Only if it suits her, Jean! Perhaps if a Sacred Twenty-Eight or similar Old-School Pureblood line was in danger of dying out, she might oppose a member of said clan getting a termination. A muggle-born getting an abortion would probably be encouraged by many of her supporters.

"Basically, Rita Skeeter is a fame-obsessed muckraker. She will write anything if it either hurts those she dislikes or suits those who pay her wages.

"What do you think, Luna?"

"That's easy, Rex. Everyone knows beetle animagi are particularly prone to suffer from infestations of wrackspurts."

"Would you like a cup of tea, Luna?" Louise asked. Somehow, she, Rex and Jean all kept straight faces. After a while, you get used to the Luna Scamander Experience…

" _I'll strangle that bloody bug with my bare hands!_ Ron, Harry…"

"Don't kill her, my love, _however sorely tempting it may be!_ "

"I know." Hermione looked to the cot in the corner. "How could she write such things about _my little angel?_ " She went over and picked the gurgling Hope up.

"Technically, her ire was aimed at the grown-ups, Hermione," Luna sighed. "That said, nobody writes _those lies_ about my family and friends and gets away with it.

"If Rita wants a press war, we'll give her a press war!"


	2. Chapter 2: Fake News

Rita Skeeter smiled to herself, putting down her quill. Persuading a few prominent Pureblood Families to support her new wizard paper had been a roaring success. After her literal flight from _The Daily Prophet_ 's offices during the liberation of Wizard Britain from Lucius Malfoy, Delores Umbridge and their cronies, she had spent time in the United States. There she had learned of such things as "spin-cycles", "blowing the dog-whistle", "the Republican Southern Strategy" and more. She had known the basic ideas behind these terms, for she was cannier than people credited her as being. That said, it was still a shock to learn that American no-majes had turned such practices into an art form.

 _It's a pity we are still in the early stages of developing a wizard internet_ , Rita mused. _With a Wizard Twitter or Facebook, I could reach half of Magical Britain within twenty minutes! Not even Harry Potter and his freakshow of circus turns are that fast!_

 _Thanks to Minister Shacklebolt establishing press freedom in the British Wizard World, I can be sued for libel, but nothing else. Indeed, since the latest Weasley child is clearly not a Weasley, the facts are on my side. All I need to do now is to keep up the pressure on that accursed Hermione Weasley until she and her friends leave Wizard Britain in shame. My supporters shall then get to inaugurate their perfect pureblood society, and I, as editor of The Daily Owl Post, shall be running the official British Wizard newspaper and be rich beyond the dreams of avarice._

 _I wonder how pleased with me the Conservative Purebloods would be if they knew where I got my ideas from, to say nothing of the other details I haven't disclosed to them? Well, they don't need to know at this stage! Later, even if they find out, I shall have protection that they could only dream of…_

"Hi, Florence!" Hermione beamed over the Skype-link to Saint Marie. "Meet Hope Pansy Weasley, my beautiful baby girl!"

"Hi Hermione!" said the Detective Sergeant Florence Cassell of the Saint Marie Police. A curvaceous, pretty woman of about thirty, her mixed Franco-Caribbean descent testified to by her French accent and bronzed skin respectively. Florence was generally a kindly sympathetic woman but was equally a dogged pursuer of potential felons. Hermione would never forget how Florence had comforted her after her ordeal in Gallia's island fortress lair. The English witch knew that she had found a life-long friend in the detective.

"Well, your daughter is definitely pretty, but… I'm so sorry, Hermione! She's Gallia's! How is Ron…?"

"As far as Ron and all my family and friends are concerned, Hope is as much Ron's child as Rose and Hugo are. He has been magnificent, Florence! I love him more than ever!"

"I never doubted _that_ , Hermione! You are a very lucky woman to have found the love of such a good man.

"Hopefully, I shall find my own man like that one day…"

"You deserve that, Florence!

"In the meantime, Pansy has agreed to be one of Hope's two godmothers. I hope that you will agree to become her other one."

"I didn't know that you were Catholic, Hermione!"

"As it happens, I am an Anglican, Florence. The offer still stands, if you are interested."

"What spiritual guidance could a Catholic with Voodoo sympathies based in Saint Marie offer to an English Protestant? Thank you for the offer, which was most kind, but…"

"To the limited extent that she does practice a religion, Pansy is a follower of Classical Greek Paganism, Florence. Harry, the godfather to be, barely even counts as nominally religious! At least you are a Christian.

"The Potters will take all three kids in if anything happens to Ron and me before they are of age. All that you have to do is continue being a friend of the family."

"Then, Hermione, I would be delighted to accept your kind offer…"

"Rita Skeeter is _vile!_ " Wanda Maximoff declared, reading the _latest_ issue of _The Daily Owl Post_. Harry had brought a copy to _The Alchemists Arms_ , a restored hotel on the outskirts of New York. Any no-majes passing would see a derelict building, but three taps on the gate with a wand or stave would reveal a high-class private members club that doubled as the Headquarters of the Secret Circle. When Stephen Strange had been looking for a Headquarters for his taskforce, Gomez Addams had offered the hotel that he had bought some time before. Jason Blood had suggested making it a place where trusted mages and no-majes, empowered or otherwise, could pay a small annual subscription and get access to a top restaurant, two themed bars for casual dining (one patterned after an American diner and the other after an old-fashioned British and Irish pub), four fully-stocked libraries, a games room, a ballroom, indoor and outdoor heated swimming pools, extensive gardens, a putting green and a quidditch pitch. There are even rooms and suites available for overnight stays. The only additional payments were modest charges for food, drinks and overnight stays. In short, it was _the_ club for good wizards!

Harry, Wanda and others were gathered in the main conference room, seated around a large round table. Ginny, Wednesday, Millie and Pansy Potter; Bill and Fleur Weasley; Gomez, Morticia, Fester and Pugsley Addams; Stephen Strange; Giovanni and Zatanna Zatara; Jason Blood; John Constantine; Madam Xanadu; Endora; Samantha and Tabitha Stephens; Hadji Quest-Singh; Emma Swan and Regina and Zelena Mills were also gathered around the table. Clea was in the Dark Dimension and Mandrake and the Sar Dubotnal are both largely retired from active combat.

"No Ron and Hermione today?" asked Regina. "It is not like Ron to miss out on a free, all-you-can-eat buffet!"

"They are both on Potter Island," Millie assured her, referring to the small island off Themyscira that the Six Goddesses had given her and Pansy as a wedding present. "Kingsley thought that they could spend as much of Ron's paternity leave as possible away from Wizard Britain. If nothing else, it keeps them from the fallout from Rita Skeeter's latest libellous campaign against us.

"We need to do something about them, my friends. Unfortunately, punching, kicking and even casting offensive or defensive spells don't work against the Free Press!"

"Unlike _the Daily Prophet_ ," Gomez sighed, "I doubt than I could gain a majority shareholding in _The Daily Owl Post_. I have never even seen shares listed on the market. It's far from unheard of for the Conservative British Purebloods to haggle their finances out behind closed doors, but I doubt that her principal backers would have the amount of ready cash to get the newspaper up-and-running as fast as they did.

"Some additional person or persons must be financing Ms Skeeter, Harry my boy. Follow the money to find out who!"

"I'll speak to the goblins," Bill stated. "Whilst there are strict confidentiality rules, the support of the Minister of Magic and the Head Auror should be enough to get sufficient information. Since Kingsley has promised Harry his full support, that won't be a problem."

" _Oui!_ " his wife agreed. "Zhe goblins don't like Rita either!"

"I have yet to meet anyone who _actually does!_ " Ginny muttered.

"Luna and Rex are currently interviewing Ron and Hermione for _The Quibbler_. Hopefully, we can start getting our message out there among the moderate and liberal factions in the Ministry of Magic and the Wizengamot."

"It isn't them that I worry about, my darling," her husband said softly. "They probably will support us when push comes to shove. It is the Conservative Purebloods encircling us like sharks with the scent of blood in the water…"

" _Aren't you adorable?!_ " Luna cooed, Ron having handed her Hope. "You love your Auntie Luna very much, don't you?!"

"Well, Ron, you seem most lucid for someone who… _What was it again?!_ Ah yes, you must be being held under the _Imperius_ by your wife, as there is no other way that you would agree to raise the child of a muggle crime lord as your own.

" _Petrified Paintpots!_ Does Rita appreciate that you are second-in-command of the Aurors and can throw off that curse as easily as Harry Potter can?"

"Of course, Rex!" Hermione grumbled. "Contrary to all indications, the old bat isn't stupid! She is just a complete cow!

" _I hate Rita bloody Skeeter! Why won't she just leave us all alone?!_ "

A bikini-clad Tracey Greengrass-Potter entered the room, her hair wrapped in a towel. "I'm just going to get changed, before picking Lily and Hugo up from school. Do you want me to pick Harriet up too?"

"Thank you for the offer, but no thanks," Louise smiled, as she looked at the portal-mirrors in the hall of the main house on Potter Island, including the one that had glowed white a few minutes earlier to let Rex, Luna and her in from _The Alchemists Arms_. "Jean and Linda have already promised to take her to the _Rancho del Sol_ for a line dancing lesson."

"That sounds fun!" Tracey agreed. She went over to hug Hermione briefly. "Just ask Kreacher if you need anything. Daffy is busy bathing Dora.

"Now, I really must get changed. I'm comfortable enough with you two fine gentlemen seeing me this scantily-clad. All the dads and male teachers at the school getting a free show is another story!"

"Is it really all that much less _revealing_ than your armour as a Fury, dear?" Hermione asked drily.

"Now that you mention it, the armour covers most of my torso and my bum, the skirt my upper thighs, the boots my lower legs and the bracelets my forearms. This bikini just covers my boobs and bum, so yes."

Once Tracey had gone upstairs, Rex brought out a pen and an exercise book. "Hermione, can you tell me in your own words how Hope was conceived please? I know that this will be distressing for you, but…"

"That's OK, Rex. I was expecting that question. You have every right to ask it too.

"Well, the Saint Marie police, a couple of ex-guardsmen, Ron and I were inspecting the main premises of _Black Widow Incorporated_. We had come to believe that Buonaparte Ignace Gallia the Fourth, who was the owner, was involved in the murder of a British wizard in Saint Marie. At that point, Ron and I were using the standard _police detective and his Foreign Office legal expert wife_ cover story. After DI Jack Mooney, DS Florence Cassell and Ron had received text alerts, we gathered everyone around in Gallia's office.

"Just as Jack Mooney was laying out the evidence, a bookcase swung open. You, Louise, Jean and the then Bernadette Imogene Gallia, now Harriet Milligan, were standing at the top of a stone stairway that led to a network of caves in the cliffs below. _We had our man bang to rights – or so we thought!_

"Florence Cassell and I were seated on the opposite side of Gallia's desk to the _monster_. He had some device, however, that had the barrels of twin muggle guns emerge from desk keyholes facing us. A second contraption had a section of the floor descend into a lift shaft. This floor included the desk, Gallia's chair, mine and Florence's chairs and a couple of Gallia's hoodlums. A trapdoor closed above our heads as we neared the bottom of the shaft, sealing the shaft. Mundungus Fletcher apparated in as we reached the bottom. Florence and I were at both wand- and gunpoint.

"Ron used a blasting curse to destroy the trapdoor, but Fletcher summoned my wand and dropped it on the desk. He then activated a portkey that he, Gallia and his couple of thugs were touching. Since said thugs also held Florence and I by a shoulder, we were dragged along for the ride. Once we had arrived, our mobiles and my mirror were confiscated, and we were tied to chairs.

"After we had been secured, Gallia told me of his _dishonourable intentions_ , planning to breed a seer to aid him in his criminal endeavours. When I refused, he gave one of his bully boys the order to break one of Florence's fingers. _I shall never forget that sickening snap and her agonised cry._ Gallia and his men left us helplessly bound, so that I could _reconsider my refusal…_ "

" _The bastard!_ " growled a voice from the doorway. Daphne was cradling a now freshly-bathed Dora in her arms. "There is nothing worse than seeing your loved ones being mistreated.

"Under the Carrows, Tori and I received three strokes across our non-wand hands with a light cane on a handful of occasions. On another I had to remove my robes, lift my skirt and bend over for four strokes across my knickers with a medium cane. On the same occasion, Millie got twenty-four strokes across the skirt and Pansy and Trace twelve apiece across their bared bums, followed by a minute for all three under the _Cruciatus_. Once that was lifted, Pansy and Trace were dragged off to the boys' dormitory, so Nott, Crabbe and Goyle could rape them both again. That was the first time that Nott decided that half-bloods like Trace should be buggered as well. It was far from the last – and most of them came immediately after a bare-bottomed caning and the _Cruciatus_.

"I could use my wand to heal their wounds and comfort them as best I could in our dorm after each session of physical and/or sexual abuse. After we got together a month or so later, I would make love to Tracey on a regular basis, reminding her that sex is for pleasure as well as pain. The four of us were close friends already, but we really became a family in the seventh-year dorm in Slytherin amongst the rape and the beatings."

"Thank you, Daphne," Hermione said softly. "It was agony, knowing that I would have to give in to his demands to save Florence from much _worse_ tortures or even a _painful lingering death…_

"When Gallia and his men returned, I consented to let him have his way with me. We were untied, and I persuaded Fletcher to heal Florence's finger magically, before we were taken to a cell with an entrance into Gallia's bedroom. En route, Gallia showed us a family of American crocodiles in an old boathouse that he had converted into a tropical reptile house. There was a large feeding platform on a pulley system near a gantry above the crocodiles that the _fiend_ threatened to use to feed Florence alive to the crocodiles should I refuse. I couldn't let that happen to my new friend.

"We were locked in a room with twin beds, two chairs, a table, an en suite shower room with shower, toilet and basin and another locked grilled door into _his_ room. I was told to stand naked in front of that door half-an-hour later. Having done so, I was taken into the bedroom and chained spread-eagle to the bed. I was unable to push him off or close my legs! Then… _Then, all I remember was distress, shame, terror and revulsion as he…_ " Hermione broke off, tears running down her cheeks. Ron and Daphne both threw their arms around her tightly, the latter having placed Dora in a cot next to Hope's.

After a few minutes, Rex said gently, "You don't have to continue, Hermione. It must have taken a lot of courage to say all that…"

"Yes, I do Rex!" Hermione replied. "I'll never forget Gallia's wandering hands, my helpless struggles against my chains and the feel of _him in me!_ Only Ron has that privilege!

"Once it was finally over, I was unchained and returned to my cell. Florence hugged me tightly, then I showered and dressed.

"Shortly afterwards, the fortress was hit by a muggle artillery barrage. Two of Gallia's thugs entered the cell, tied our hands together behind our backs and dragged us to Gallia's office. There, our legs were tied, and we were carried from there to the gantry over the crocodile house. Florence was put down on the feeding platform and I on the gantry. Gallia made it _perfectly clear_ what would happen to poor Florence if a rescue effort was fully made.

"The Doctor's TARDIS materialised, as Wonder Witch and her Furies ripped the roof off. Gallia ordered that the feeding platform be lowered, but the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to reverse the winch and Wonder Witch flew to rescue Florence from the platform. Fletcher and Gallia's heavies were all captured or killed in a fight. Gallia cut my legs free, dragged me off with my hands still tied behind me and tried to block the path behind him with fire. Unfortunately for him, Jason Blood was among the rescuers – _and fire is no handicap to Etrigan!_ The Demon vaulted over the flames, threw Gallia back over and then leapt me safely over. Once Etrigan had untied my hands, I hugged him briefly, before I kissed Ron with more passion than I ever had before.

"Gallia ended up on the feeding platform. A blasting curse from Ron sent him falling into the crocodile enclosure, where he was quickly eaten by the breeding male. _Good riddance to bad rubbish!_

"I underwent a muggle rape examination at Saint Marie hospital. Harry Potter received the results shortly afterwards and relayed them to Ron and me. Thankfully, it was negative for venereal diseases, but _was positive for pregnancy!_ You can imagine how I felt…

"For the last nine months, I was dreading having Gallia's baby rather than Ron's. Hope is not Ron's daughter by blood, no. That said, he has adopted her as his own legally, so by law she is as much his daughter as Rose is.

"I must end by paying tribute to Ronald Weasley, my best friend, spouse, lover and soulmate; my two older children Rose and Hugo; my parents; the other Weasleys, Potters, Longbottoms and every other person or family who has supported me through this terrible time. Love is always stronger than evil."

"Thank you, Rex, Luna. Also, Ron, Daphne, thank you for the hugs."

"Hi Mummy and Daddy!" called Hugo, Tracey having just brought him and Lily back from the _Serafina Picquery Elementary School_.

Hermione smiled through her remaining tears, before looking again at Hope's cradle. _My family is all the support that I need. We will get through this together. Rita might be a bitch, but she won't destroy our love for each other._

 _That said, I doubt that Rita's response to this interview when Rex writes it up and publishes it will be a public apology for being an antediluvian prat..._


	3. Chapter 3: Rita Breaks the News

_This is Rita Skeeter reporting in The Daily Owl Post. I suppose you have read The Quibbler's pet muggle interviewing Mrs Hermione Weasley. As always, the muggle-born meddler attempts to pretend that her perverted masochistic tryst with the late Mr Gallia was rape. Perhaps she truly believes that the birth of a daughter is not evidence that she could not have been raped. That muggle science mumbo-jumbo that keeps getting spouted in support of her allegations might convince the muggle-raised, but we mages know better. That is why senior government positions should be reserved for the right sort of purebloods, who understand and share our values._

 _One thing that really disturbs me is that her husband has formally adopted the by-product of his wife's affair. Why couldn't they have the decency to give the girl the surname FitzGallia and leave her with Mrs Weasley's parents? Should she turn out to be magical (which some might think unlikely, being the daughter of a muggle-born and a muggle), she should be discretely educated at Beauxbatons or, better still, Ilvermorny._

 _The Weasleys should be the archetypal pureblood family, for all Arthur Weasley's eccentric love of all cheap muggle tat. He and that hectoring harridan that he marred, however, have let their offspring breed with not only half-blood and muggle-born mages, but even a part-Veela. Fleur Weasley may have been a Tri-Wizard Competitor and I have heard some say that she is pretty (I don't see it myself) but are those any reasons for uniting with a half-breed firebird?! Readers may well think that it is not._

 _For all our sakes, we need to act now! The Weasleys and Potters are clearly too soiled by muggle moral filth to be leading our world into the future. It is time to award the war heroes pensions and let them move on to pursue private interests, preferably in the New World._

 _There are many old families who could be fine exemplars of wizard morality. It is time to give one of them the chance to show why purebloods are born to rule British wizards._

" _Now_ will you just let me _kill_ her?!" Hermione demanded furiously. "I could plead temporary insanity due to extreme provocation…"

"You could do that in a muggle court, Hermione," Harry agreed. "In front of the Wizengamot, you will be facing a number of the Conservative Purebloods who agree with Rita's assessment of you. Given that some of the neutrals and moderates are beginning to show signs of turning against you, I cannot guarantee that you would be acquitted.

"With all the reforms that we have introduced over the last couple of decades or so, the occasional backlash is inevitable. We thwarted the Malfoy-Umbridge takeover just less than a year ago. Are you surprised that some of the conservatives and even neutrals and moderates are responding to Rita's character assassination so positively?!"

"I suppose not, Harry. It is just _so frustrating…_ "

"…To have to keep fighting the battles of the past. We know, darling," Ron reassured her, "but many of the Conservatives have always seen us as dangerous revolutionaries, in our own way quite as bad as Voldemort or Grindelwald. Some neutrals and moderates agree with us in principle but are worried about how far and how fast we are going.

"Perhaps Hermione and I should talk about taking an extended sabbatical after first my paternity leave and then her maternity leave end, Kingsley. We are reasonably well off and the White Council would give us both good jobs in a flash.

"With us on long-term leave from the Ministry, it should be easier for you and Harry to weather the firestorm that Rita is stoking."

"It would be a shame to lose you for the duration, Ron," Kingsley rumbled, "but your family must come first. If that is what you both want…"

"It isn't!" Hermione grumbled. "The great lump, however, is right. If this keeps up, the kids will have to be our top priority and not reforming the ministry.

" _Bloody Rita Skeeter!_ When this is finally all over, I intend to give her the hexing of her life!"

"Thank you for seeing us," Bill said to the Gringotts' Head Goblin. "We have a formal warrant from Minister Shacklebolt and Chief Auror Potter requesting details of where _The Daily Owl Post_ is getting its funding from. Any assistance that you can provide will be of use to the Auror Department in their inquiries.

"Fleur darling, will you show him the warrant please?" His wife produced a parchment scroll, opened it and placed it on the Head Goblin's desk. The meeting was taking place in a private office and not in the great marble main hall, with all the cashiers and open desks. Bill and Fleur had decided discretion was the order of the day, not wanting to tip off Rita and her backers that they were looking into _The Daily Owl Post_ 's finances.

" _Oui_ , Bill _mon amour_."

"Thank you. As you can see, sir, everything should be in order."

"Thank you, Mr and Mrs Weasley. We shall investigate her funding stream for you. Of course, if mages would ever come up with a wizard equivalent of Companies House, this would be so much easier.

"One thing I can say is that, while there are the usual contributions from Houses such as Parkinson, Bulstrode, Nott, Fudge, McLaggen, Smith and so on, most of the funding comes from the United States. Even more interestingly, it is via regular transfers from a no-maj American bank account that our American colleagues cannot trace to any known witch or wizard."

" _Why would an American muggle be bankrolling Rita Skeeter?!_ " Bill asked bemused.

"That makes no sense, _mon amour_. We must be missing something…

" _Merci beaucoup_ for your time, sir."

"It can't be a great surprise that Rita is getting funding from no-maj America," Dean Thomas noted. The Longbottoms had invited everyone to a meal to celebrate the fact that a radiantly happy Susan had announced her pregnancy. Hannah and Neville were equally delighted. The three of them had prepared prawn cocktails to start; roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, carrots, suede and peas as a main; and bread and butter pudding with custard to finish.

"What do you mean, Dean?" Ron asked.

"Wednesday," Dean asked in response, "what does an intense campaign to stir up the general public into a moral panic conducted by the media remind you of? All Rita needs is to start calling _The Quibbler_ and _The Daily Prophet_ _Fake News_ and open an invective-filled Twitter account…"

"You are right, _mon vieux!_ This is pure Lee Atwater as refined by Steve Bannon!

"Everyone, the current No-Maj President of the United States is a businessman who managed to stir up a right-wing moral panic over immigration and globalisation to get himself elected. The campaign turned weaponizing the far-right press and mainstream media, plus effective use of new social media platforms, into an art form. _Rita's British Wizard Strategy_ is brilliant in an awful way!

"Why bother with Unforgivable Curses when you can inflict the no-maj equivalent on people?! With the _Imperius_ , you can control a handful of people, but with these techniques you can get millions to think just as you want them to…"

"That's good!" Ron cheered. " _All curses have counter-curses!_ What is the muggle counter-curse for this?"

Dean and Wednesday exchanged bemused frowns. " _Ron, mon vieux, there isn't one!_ All we can do is hope that either we can uncover enough to expose Rita or that something else comes along to distract the attention of all bar the hardcore Pureblood Conservatives. Until either of those happens, all we can do is try to keep our spirits up!"

" _Hello everyone!_ " came a voice over the wizard wireless. "This is Algernon Runcorn with _The Moral Mage_. Our guest tonight is Rita Skeeter, editor-in-chief of…"

Hannah turned the wireless off at that point. She had a feeling that Ron or Hermione would be using blasting curses if she hadn't. Not that the Longbottoms listened to Albert Runcorn's son's pureblood rantings anyway. Rita was a regular guest on the show, which suited her vindictive gossiping.

"We even have right-wing shock jocks on the radio," Dean noted. "That is something else for Rita to exploit. _Sometimes I wonder which side lost the Second War against Voldemort…!_ "

"Good to see you again, _my pretties_ ," Zelena gushed, as Luna, Rex and Louise came through the portal from the Dana House at Oak Falls. "I was pleased to get your text, Rex."

"Good to see you too, Zelena!" said Rex, as he and his wife pulled Zelena into a three-way hug. "Jean, Linda and Bob should be bringing Harriet here after school. Rolf should be bringing the twins over in a couple of hours.

"In the meantime, we are joining some friends in New York to follow Rita's audit trail. We would like you to join Luna in offering _magical muscle_ should we need it."

"Of course, Rex! With Ava pregnant, she and her version of Henry asked to look after Robyn today. It is good practice for them.

"I get to spend quality time with friends and possibly curse people too! What more could a Mills girl want?!"

"Hi everyone!" said the familiar short bespectacled brunette as the party came through the portal to _The Alchemists Arms_ from Storybrooke. "It seems like _months_ since we last met…"

"It was two weeks ago, Velma," Rex said, hugging Velma Johnson nee Dinkley tightly. She had married J.I.G. "Jigger" Johnson, Rex's best friend since their schooldays at Sheldrake Grammar School, the summer before. Jigger himself, a short stocky redhead, was standing happily at her side. The rest of Mystery Inc were gathered around, as were the other three members of the Paranormal Investigations Bureau that Rex and Jigger were members of. Jon and Penny Warrender of the Lone Pine Club were seated on a comfortable sofa. George Jones nee Kirrin of the Famous Five was standing next to her husband Jupiter Jones of the Three Investigators. The other two Investigators, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews, were also present.

"Right, gang," Fred Jones began, "when we get to the bank, this is what we shall do. We shall split up…"

"…Hunt for _clues_ , get chased by some nutter in a monster costume, you set another inept trap and we catch the culprits entirely by accident," Jon finished for him.

"Since we are following an audit trail, this will be Jupiter, Velma and I at computer terminals, Fred. I doubt that we shall find a faked haunting at the place."

" _Can we stay there if so…?_ "

"Nice try, Shaggy," Daphne Blake noted. "We wouldn't be _that unlucky anyway…_ "

" _Roh Roy!_ "

"No, Miss Blake, we have categorically _not_ got a ghost, demon, werewolf or any other creature of the night at this branch," the manager told her sternly. "To the best of my knowledge, we don't have any at our other branches either.

"Mrs Johnson, we have confirmed that your court order is valid. We shall provide you, Mr Jones and Mr Warrender with the Wi-Fi code and passwords to allow you to access the information that you are authorised to view. Mr _Jupiter_ Jones, that is…"

"No worries, Mr Jenkins. I'm not as _nerdy_ as my second cousin…"

"Mr Jenkins, what my esteemed relative is endeavouring not entirely successfully to communicate verbally is that he is more gifted in regard to physicality than with technology of recent chronological development."

" _I can't take you anywhere, Jupe!_ " George jokingly complained. "Velma, Jon, _keep him out of trouble please!_ "

A sudden uproar came from the lobby. A cashier came running in. "Mr Jenkins, sir, this will sound crazy. I swear that it is true. _There is a vampire running amok in our lobby…_ "

"See, gang! _I knew that we would have a mystery to solve!_ "

" _Jeepers!_ "

" _Jinkies!_ "

" _Zoinks!_ "

" _Ruh-roh! Raggy, Relp!_ "

" _Gleeps!_ "

" _Petrified Paintpots!_ "

" _Crystallised Cheesecakes!_ "

" _A vampire!_ " Luna exclaimed brightly. "I never knew that they were customers of no-maj banks in the States.

"Zelena dear, I hope that you are as good at conjuring and throwing fireballs as your sister is…"

"How did it go, guys? Did you find any _clues…?_ "

"It was disappointing. I was hoping to ask the vampire which Court it belonged to. Apparently, it was a disgruntled caretaker in disguise…"

"Don't worry, Sis! It almost always is when Mystery Inc are involved!"

" _Really, Rex?_ _Why would muggles in fancy dress keep pretending to be monsters?! How odd…_ "

"In our community, it is a regular occurrence, Luna," Louise assured her. "You are not a proper teen sleuth until you have solved your first faked haunting!"

"Zelena was _awesome!_ " Daphne gushed. "She did her green smoke thing to get close to the villain, before knocking him out with one hell of a left hook. Luna then discretely edited the memories of the staff, customers and criminal alike so that they remember the punch and not the magic beforehand."

"She wasn't _that_ impressive. I never got to set a trap…"

"As I said, _she was awesome!_

"What about you three? Did you find anything that could help?"

"Daphne, the bank account in question is regularly enhanced by significant donations via a series of financial institutions covering all continents bar Antarctica. All these accounts are in the names of various American companies, none of which officially exist. I can only assume that these are fictions devised to hide the involvement of persons or corporations who wish to conceal their identities for probable illicit motivation."

" _Gleeps, Jupe!_ " Pete complained. "Not everyone here has learned to speak _Jupiter Jones_ yet."

"Firstly," Jon noted, "you don't seem to have fully learned it yet, Pete. Considering that the Three Investigators solved that Terror Castle business well over half-a-century ago, you have had ample time to learn the lingo.

"Secondly, Jupiter was saying that we are dealing with bank accounts scattered around the globe, all opened in the names of non-existent American companies.

"All of these accounts have been opened with enough evidence to satisfy some very stringent rules on _proof of identity_. Whoever we are dealing with is a pro!"

"We will have to try a different tack then," Penny suggested brightly. "How many mysteries have we solved between us over the years? I am sure that all the great minds we have in the former young adventurer community should be able to decide on the next course of action…"

"Alternatively, we need the world's best financed Great Detective," Rex noted. "That means we get the joy of consulting _Grumpy of Gotham City…_ "

"This entire day seems to be involving muggles in fancy dress. It must be the wrackspurts. Nobody would behave so strangely otherwise…"

" _Luna, dear_ ," Rex began, "have you heard that old saying about people in glass houses and throwing stones?!"

"No, Rex. That would be a silly thing to say. Nobody lives in greenhouses, unless they are plants. Even if they did, the panes would break.

" _And people called me "Looney"!_ "

"Apparently, Rex, Louise and company have found that they are dealing with someone who has made following the money normally almost impossible," Gomez told the Secret Circle general council. "We need to find one or more persons with the resources to set up bank accounts in at least fifty countries via a number of non-existent American companies.

"We've spoken to Batman, who has put Batgirl onto the search. She has contacted a friend in Sweden, who is a fellow expert computer hacker, as well as Tony Stark. Hopefully, one of the three will be able to follow the money all the way back to the source."

"I still can't work out why some American muggle wants to fund Rita Skeeter," Ron commented. "I don't see what they would get in return."

"It must have been boring watching some nerds on computers, Sis," Regina noted.

"On the contrary, sister dear, I got to sock a lunatic dressed as a vampire in the jaw. _That was fun!_ "

Zelena turned to one of the groups seated at smaller tables a distance from the large round table used by the council. "How was Robyn, Henry One?"

"She was adorable as ever, Auntie Zelena," replied the first of the four versions of Henry Mills present. He was in his late teens and married to Ava "Gretel" Zimmer, who had a now very noticeably baby bump. There was an adult Henry from an alternate future sitting alongside his wife Jacinda and their daughter Lucy, another Henry from an alternate universe engaged to Violet Morgan of Camelot and a fourth Henry from a Wish Realm in which the Evil Queen had killed the Charmings.

"Why does my life have to get so _complicated?!_ " Regina complained.

"You know what they say, Regina. There's no rest for the wicked…"

" _Save it Swan!_ In any case, I was Evil. It was Zelena who was Wicked…"

"Tony, Lisbeth and I are still following the data trail, Harry," Batgirl said over the secure Skype link to the pulse-hardened laptop on his desk. Behind Batgirl was the top level of the Batcave, where the computer platform, the costume vaults, the "garage" for the various land vehicles and a monorail to the "hangar" for the Batplane and Batcopter were located. There was a lift to the lower levels, with gyms, dormitories, workshops, laboratories, the Subway Rocket station and the quay for the Batboat. "It will be a long process, as the money into the other accounts is flowing in from _yet further accounts_ , in the names of other non-existent persons and businesses from all around the world.

"It would take a very sophisticated computer system to produce the algorithms to keep the funds in constant flux between accounts. Whoever is behind this must have significant technology as well as wealth. This is not some amateur or amateurs, Harry.

"We will find him, her or them eventually, I am sure of it. Don't expect speedy results though!"

"Thank you, Barbara," said Harry, deciding to use her given name, being the only one around. "Don't rush please. We want to have a clear audit trail to whoever is responsible.

"In the meantime, I'll ask Millie and the Furies to keep their eyes on Rita. If we can find some wizard secrets that she wants preserved, Rex can report them in _The Quibbler_.

"Once we find out what her _other backers_ are after, we shall see how prominent purebloods feel about being used as a front for wizard-muggle business dealings…"

"So," said the American voice via a secure Skype-call to Rita's pulse-hardened laptop, "your pureblood friends are seeing their chance to bring down Hermione Weasley and the whole Shacklebolt Ministry down with her.

"In return, they will grant _The Daily Owl Post_ Ministry-Favoured Status and are happy to sell to you at cheap price land for a new headquarters. You in return sell some of the residual land to me for a new mall. There are some non-magical villages nearby who would appreciate cheap transport to a major retail centre."

"I'm sure that it would be a goldmine," Rita agreed, "although the local muggles say _shopping centres_ rather than _malls_. Some cheap land owned by the Ministry hardly seems adequate reason for all this effort, though."

"As you know, I have my own reasons for wanting a number of largely British wizards learning why you do not cross me…"


	4. Chapter 4: Old Sneers and Old Scorn

Potter Island, two days later

"Hermione, you have been asked to appear before the Wizengamot on Tuesday," Kingsley told her. "It isn't for a formal vote of no confidence in you yet, but enough of the neutrals and moderates seem to have decided to humour the conservative pureblood factions.

"Since it is not a trial, I don't think it has the force of a full summons and you are on maternity leave for at least the next six months, but…"

"Don't worry, Kingsley, I'll be there. _I'm not letting those bastards get me down!_ "

"That's the spirit, love!" Ron approved.

"What is our strategy, Kingsley?" Harry asked. "How do we protect Hermione from the worst of the conservatives…?"

"Unless they attack me physically, _Harry James Potter_ , _I do not require protection!_ I can defend myself from rational debate perfectly well. You can't win a debate by thumping or hexing people!"

" _More's the pity! I would love to unleash Wonder Witch and her Furies on the conservative purebloods in the Ministry and Wizengamot!_ "

"You and me both, Harry!" Ron noted. "Unfortunately, the missus is right as usual. We already have the Wizengamot breathing down our necks. Do we _really_ want to start antagonising the remaining moderates and neutrals by acting like a pack of savage hyenas?! Even some of the liberals might turn on us if we overreact in that way.

"We have the support of you and your allied Houses – that's Potter, Longbottom, Abbott, Bones, Greengrass and McMillan in the bag. You hold the Black vote in proxy for Teddy and we can rely on Terry and Draco for the Boot and Malfoy votes."

"Those are on the Wizengamot legislature. It doesn't necessarily reflect the Judicial Sub-Committee or the Full Court."

"True," came a familiar voice from behind them. They turned to see Padma Patil, who was just on her way to the showers with Parvati after training with their fellow Furies outside the Kilns, as the main house on Potter Island had been renamed. The wing that Daphne and Tracey shared with Dora was called the Meadows. James was proud of his puns on Potter and Greengrass. "Remember though, Harry, that Susan and I run the Magical Crown Prosecution Service for Kingsley. No evidence of _high crimes or misdemeanours_ has been brought before us yet. They are not, or at least not yet, preparing articles of impeachment against any of you.

"This is at worst a preliminary hearing. All you must do, Hermione, is to ensure that the Wizengamot Committee in question gets to hear your side of the story calmly and clearly."

"Come on, Pads, we need to hit the showers before the others use up all the hot water."

"I'm on my way, Parv. Then, Ron, Hermione, what are your plans for lunch? We could discuss possible strategies over a vegetable curry. Bring Hope and Hugo, given that it's a Saturday."

"That sounds lovely, Padma, thank you."

The Patil twins shared a house next to Parvati's dressmaking factory in the Hertfordshire countryside. Tastefully decorated in a British Indian style, the lounge had comfy armchairs and sofas; a shrine to various Hindu gods and goddesses including Parvati's namesake festooned with the lotus blossoms after which her sister was named; and a selection of muggle and magical forms of entertainment. The dining room was elegant, the kitchen spacious and airy and the whole house reflected a perfect mix of the extrovert Parvati and the more reflective Padma. Outside of their respective bedrooms, there was a distinct lack of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw colours.

"We must get you to do our interior designs from now on, Parvati," Hermione gushed. "You have the same eye for cushions as you do for fashion. _This is beautifully done!_

"You built from scratch one of the fastest rising companies in the wizard world. Somewhere up there, Lavender's proud of you, dear."

"Thank you, Hermione, although honesty compels me to say that you, Pads, Susan and the others who have worked so tirelessly to reform our government and laws are far worthier of praise than a mere dressmaker and model."

"Thank you, Parvati. Now, Hugo, why don't you help Auntie Parvati lay the table, whilst Daddy and I go up to the study to talk to Auntie Padma?"

The twins had decided to use the smallest of the four bedrooms as a study. Bookshelves held books on wizard law and a feminine mannequin was next to an easel with a sketchbook on it. One of the two desks with files and laptops also had a sewing machine on it, demarking it as Parvati's.

Padma, however, led Ron and Hermione to four comfortable armchairs around a coffee table. "Take a seat and we can discuss our next steps.

"This seems to be an opportunist play by the conservatives to use the _situation_ to their advantage. If they can persuade enough of the others that you are a danger to _wizard society_ with your _moral laxity_ as well as your _reformist ideals_ , maybe they can get a _new Ministry team_ in place. We can expect the angling for conservative purebloods to resume their positions of power to resume in earnest, cheered on by Ms Skeeter."

Hermione sighed. " _When will they give me the respect that I deserve?!_ I have reformed the laws for all mages in Britain and Ireland, putting all on as equal footing as I can, given our oligarchical system of government, whilst raising the rights of other sentient magical beings. To have done that whilst starting a family must have proved my capabilities?

"Why must my achievements _always_ be undermined by my _status?!_ I didn't ask to be born to muggle parents, any more than I asked to be abducted and raped by a muggle crime lord in the Caribbean.

"Don't get me wrong. I love Mum and Dad very much and wouldn't change anything about them. My reputation should be based on _what I have done, not whether my parents are magical or not…_ "

"Not one of us would argue otherwise, Hermione my love. Padma's right though. It isn't _us_ who are calling for you to appear before the Wizengamot to explain yourself."

"Thank you, Ron. Hermione remember that these people _want you to lose your temper or otherwise get upset._ If you come across as a hormonal new mother, they can really go to town with the character assassination. Before you say anything, _I know that you are a new mother!_

"Try and keep calm. Remind them of your status as a war heroine and a respected administrator and political reformer. Basically, show them the logical but compassionate Hermione Weasley we all know and love.

"That said, I am sure that something we don't yet expect is going to happen. It always does…"

"Grub's up!" Parvati called from downstairs.

Hermione was enjoying the vegetable korma with pilau rice, vegetable samosas, onion bhajis and naan bread. Parvati was an excellent cook and the curry had a mild but spicy flavour.

"Thank you for inviting us, Aunties Padma and Parvati!" Hugo said happily. "This is one of the best meals I have had in a long time. You should open a restaurant, Auntie Parvati."

"Thank you, Hugo dear, but I have no plans to add to my workload. Running a business whilst fighting crime as a Fury is more than enough for me for now."

"Fair enough, Auntie Parvati."

"Whoever this person is, Pete, they have Barbara, Lisbeth and I chasing ghosts from domain to domain. I believe we last saw the money come through a holding account in Lithuania, having got there via a business account in Zimbabwe. No such companies exist anywhere that we can find. Our mystery person or persons are _very well-resourced_.

"Do you have any ideas?"

Peter Parker was dining at the Cobalt Club in New York with Tony Stark and Matt Murdock. He was now the CEO of Parker Industries, a thriving biochemical concern. The Cobalt Club, long having kept a few _private areas_ for the private detectives, cloaked vigilantes, secret agents and metahumans who wanted somewhere to enjoy food, drink and good conversation with their peers, had happily accepted him as a member. After his early days in Queens, he was glad to be increasingly wealthy and able to provide for Aunt May and MJ, not that the model and actress couldn't provide for herself these days too.

"Daisy's the best hacker in SHIELD, Tony, but you know that already. If the three of you can't find any real leads, however, I don't know if she could either. Barbara has Bruce's resources at her disposal, whilst you have Stark Industries at yours.

"What about trying to find out what Rita Skeeter has to offer an American no-maj? Have the British wizards offended anyone lately?"

"Pete's right, Tony. Try starting from the end we _do_ know. The witch journalist _is_ clearly involved in whatever is going on."

"Pete, Matt, thank you.

"I'll contact Harry Potter. The British mages would be the best people to keep an eye on Ms Skeeter."

Ginny Potter left the _Daily Prophet_ premises on Monday evening and met Tracey Greengrass-Potter and Astoria Malfoy in Diagon Alley. "Hi Trace, Tori. Are we ready for our stakeout?!"

"Hi Gin!" Astoria replied, hugging her old friend tightly. "We certainly are!

"Draco is visiting 12 Grimmauld Place this evening and Scorpius is at Hogwarts, so I can join you both on this _Girl's Night Out!_ "

The three ladies Apparated to an area near Rita Skeeter's house, checked to see that they were not being observed and then they each span rapidly to the right. A vortex surrounded each witch, followed by a thunderclap and a blinding light. Lioness, Vendetta and Warrior of the Furies were now all present and correct. Clad in black armour decorated with white astrological and alchemical symbols over their torsos and flanks; short skirts; knee-high boots; large bronze bracelets; golden tiaras with Caduceus symbols on the front; bronze hoplon shields slung across their backs; their golden magic belts with lassos, swords in scabbards and Caduceus wands in holsters, they were ready for anything.

Using telepathy to operate the hovering charms in their boots, they Disillusioned themselves and flew to a hill overlooking Rita's study. Lioness conjured three old-fashioned spyglasses. The Three Furies lay down on their fronts and used the telescopes to view Rita sat at her desk.

"I don't suppose that anything exciting will happen," Warrior mused. "Hopefully, we get _some action_ tonight!"

" _That goes for all of us, sister!_ " Lioness agreed fervently. Vendetta suppressed a sigh. Other than Wonder Witch herself, no Furies were keener for battle than her two companions. As for herself, she was the most ruthless! After her _experiences_ at the hands of Crabbe, Goyle and Nott, her first reaction in a fight was to decapitate first and ask questions later!

"Wait a second, girls," Warrior called, "Rita's answering a muggle mobile. I can't recognise the type, but it looks advanced.

"It's a shame that we can't read her lips, as that might give us some clues as to whom she is speaking. A pound to a penny, it's our _anonymous benefactor_. That would solve that mystery."

"Should we move in?" Vendetta asked. "Rita isn't exactly someone who laughs in the face of danger!"

"Negative, Vendetta," Lioness decided, taking command. "We don't know what muggle or magical alarms and even traps she might have around her home for one thing. For another, we don't want to scare off her _new friend_ or even give Rita further ammunition against us.

"Rita's getting out some floo powder. She's pouring into the fire and is heading off to parts unknown.

"I'll get Harry to make some discrete checks at the Floo Maintenance Office to see if he can establish where she went."

Hermione stood nervously outside the Committee Room chosen for her _appraisal_. She had brought Hope along in a carrycot, hoping that the sight of the baby girl might soften a few hearts.

"Are you OK, Hermione?" Harry asked concerned.

"I'm just nervous, Harry. What if those conservatives convince enough others that I am a fallen woman only worthy of derision? They might force me to resign and ask you, Ron, Kingsley and company to do likewise. _You would be guilty by association if nothing else…_

"We have done so much to reform this world. I'm damned if I am going to let the old regime retake control again, Harry. If they want a fight, _then they will get one!_ "

"It is time to go in, Harry," Kingsley declared. "Someone will come for you soon, Hermione. Please keep calm. Good luck, my dear."

As she was led into the chamber, Hermione felt a knot in her stomach. She could see friends smiling at her, trying to put her at ease. One face, however, was having quite the opposite effect.

Patrick Parkinson, Pansy's estranged father, was a former Death Eater and a pureblood supremacist of the worst order. Somehow, he seemed to be chairing the hearing. _So much for impartiality! This is a kangaroo court!_

"Mrs Weasley," Parkinson began, "I see that you have shamefully brought the product of your affair into this Chamber."

"I have brought my youngest daughter in with me, Sir. Yes, Hope Pansy Weasley was conceived by an act that was at best of dubious consent on my part. That I cannot deny. Her skin colour is clearly not due to Ron or me.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Wizengamot, you know my part in the defeat of the late Tom Riddle, alias Lord Voldemort. You all also know how hard I have worked to reform the Ministry to make it work for every magical being. Do you really believe that my achievements have been negated by me agreeing to have sex with a muggle crime lord to save the life of a muggle Auror?

"I shall be on maternity leave for the next few months. All I ask is that my family's privacy be respected at this time and that I may be allowed to return to my position once my leave is completed.

"Thank you for allowing me to address this body."

"That was a most charming story," Parkinson snarked. "Still, _you cannot conceive after rape!_ I don't care what your muggle friends believe, Mrs Weasley. We mages know better, _don't we?!_

"You _whored yourself_ with a muggle crime lord, on the pretence that it was to save a worthless muggle life. Then you have a child, which you somehow convince your husband to adopt into his lower-class family. Someone as naïve and forgiving as Ronald Weasley shouldn't be Deputy Chief Auror…"

"May I remind you, Chairman," Giles Greengrass cut in smoothly, "that Mr and Mrs Weasley are _not on trial!_ Please restrain yourself to finding out the facts, _not interpreting them!_ "

"Ah, but how can I expected to do that _when the Potters, Weasleys and their friends subject our world to this woman's depraved muggle ways?!_

"Wasn't it enough to raise the status of centaurs, werewolves, vampires, _even house elves,_ until they are practically equal to humans?! Did she stop after making half-bloods and muggle-borns equal to purebloods?! No, it was still not enough for the infernal meddler who stands before us. Now she sets a terrible example to our children.

"Rita Skeeter is right! Grant Mrs Weasley, her husband, Chief Auror Potter, Minister Shacklebolt and company generous war pensions, then ask them to resign and seek pastures new. We can then restore the rightful order to the Wizard World…"

Hermione looked around her. Obviously, Harry, Kingsley, Neville, Draco, Terry Boot, Giles Greengrass and Hannah, Ernie and Susan's fathers were looking supportively at her. All the other liberals and a good half of the moderates and neutrals seemed to be on her side, although with some of the neutrals at least it was probably more a case that they weren't sure that things were bad enough yet to risk a Parkinson Administration. _Why do they never give up on their Old Cause?!_

"If you wish to propose formal impeachment procedures against myself or my colleagues, that is of course your right," she began. "All I can say is that my record speaks for itself. If my actions over the last ten months or so are tainting that, then perhaps you should consider impeachment.

"Thank you for your time. May I depart, as my baby needs feeding?"

"Of course, Mrs Weasley," Parkinson sneered. Briefly Hermione noticed that a few faces among the conservatives (even amongst those too young to have been part of the Fudge and Thicknesse regimes) were looking at her with utter contempt. "I'm sure that you will be hearing from us again…"

That evening, Harry had invited a party to the Kilns. Hermione was looking into Hope's carrycot. The innocent face of her beautiful baby girl made everything seem worth it. _I am not letting any pureblood conservatives push me around ever again!_

"What happened with the Wizengamot Committee?" Rex asked her. She told him, ending by noting how even younger conservatives seemed to be viewing her as entirely beneath their contempt. "Rex, I thought that at least the younger generation would come to love the new wizard world and come to at least respect and admire us reformers."

Rex thought for a moment. "How did that old Civil War-era song put it?

 _New trickings, new goings, new measures, new paces,_

 _New fashions, new riches, new power in new places,_

 _But old sneers and old scorn on a new set of faces,_

 _And is not Old England grown new?!_

In this case, Hermione, it isn't even different families in power, but the next generation of the Death Eater sympathisers. They have been raised to think of you as the Great Destroyer of Pureblood Values or some such rot."

"I'll never win, will I?" Hermione sobbed.

"I shouldn't leave _Spoilers_ ," said a distinctive Yorkshire accent from behind them, "but in time wizards will speak with pride of the legendary Hermione Weasley." A blonde woman, seemingly in her thirties and wearing blue trousers held up with yellow braces and a white jacket opened to reveal a blue top with a rainbow band across the middle. "Not yet, outside of certain circles, but they will. Sometimes people must live with _new ways_ for decades before they fully accept them."

"Thank you, Doctor," Hermione replied. _After the young man with the bow tie and fez and the grumpy old Scotsman, the Doctor as a Yorkshire lass does take some getting used to. It is still truly the Doctor though._ "I don't suppose you can give me the timescale?!"

"It is still a long way off yet, but it _will come_ , I assure you!"

Meanwhile, Harry was talking to Kingsley. "We have discovered that Rita has set up a couple of houses in the States with floo access. Both are supposedly empty and Rita Apparates from whichever to some unknown destination, presumably also in the States. There is no sign of her in Magical America during any of these periods."

"So," Kingsley observed, "all we need to find out, Harry, is where she goes. Find that and we find her benefactor. Then we might finally have some answers…"


	5. Chapter 5: Gathering Evidence

_The Alchemists Arms, Friday morning, New York time_

"Thank you for agreeing to help us with this, Rex, Louise, Jean, Linda," Ginny said earnestly. "It is just that you are better skilled at investigating in the muggle or no-maj world than we are.

"Can you figure out where Rita might be going?"

The adult Potters and Greengrass-Potters, plus Sirius and Dora, had gathered with the Milligans, Dana-Craigs and Scamanders in the American Diner. If the restaurant was all elegant upholstery and linen and the pub quirky with cosy nooks and alcoves, then the American Diner was a few tables with chairs, barstools against a long bar and pulse-hardened jukebox and traditional arcade games in a corner. Currently, "Bat Out of Hell" was blaring out of the jukebox. The whole place screamed late twentieth-century Americana.

"We'll be glad to help, as always," Jean replied with typical cheery enthusiasm.

"The dates of the floo journeys seem to follow a set pattern," Louise noted, "being every Monday evening your time, so early afternoon in New York. They alternate between the two houses. Both houses are empty, owned by a letting company based in Queens, near to both properties. These are the only two properties it lets, and the company's own premises are also empty.

"Can you identify where Ms Skeeter, err, Apparates to?"

"Wait a minute, darling," Rex cut in, "that pattern suggests a regular meeting. Perhaps our financier is also based outside of New York most of the week?

"We should check the airports and stations. Who visits New York every Monday? That could give us some possible suspects at least."

"We'll find your mystery financier, _mis amigos_ ," Linda promised. "When it comes to finding patterns and piercing together clues, _somos los mejores!_ "

"No wonder you and Wednesday are friends!" Harry noted drily.

"Asking around the New York airports hasn't proven a great success," Rex reported back to the Secret Circle general council. "We haven't discovered a regular visitor to New York on a Monday anyway."

"We have asked at JFK, Newark Liberty, Stewart and Long Island MacArthur," Louise added. "As my husband said, no probable financier for Rita has visited every Monday via one or any combination of those airports. It is the same for the stations and docks.

"Either we are looking for a conglomerate, the individual is based in the New York area or is coming in via private aircraft to a small private airfield or helipad. We need to identify which."

"How about the Furies?" Wanda Maximoff suggested. "If Wonder Witch's Invisible Jet was to circle in full Stealth Mode above New York, they could see any company or private aircraft approach. Then they could send a couple of Disillusioned Furies after possible suspects to see if they can obtain any evidence that they met with Ms Skeeter.

"Rex, Louise, could you take the _Balaska II_ to New York Harbour? Ron or Harry can use the rune sets that were engraved in the prow to trigger the portkey function to Storybrooke Harbour and then the Disillusionment one to travel the rest of the way by sea undetected."

The _Balaska II_ was a wedding present given to Rex and Louise by MI6's Q Branch in return for all the services the former young adventurers had given to the British and American Governments over the years. Not that either the American sleuth or the British journalist needed any rewards for that. They were an ex-teen sleuth and a former schoolboy chronicler after all. Duty was part of their character, alongside loyalty and friendship. Luna often joked that Rex and his friends were the very epitome of Hufflepuff, which, for all their bravery, intelligence and cunning, would have been the natural habitat of any British mage belonging to said fraternity. Zelena was likewise known to observe that the shared traits were so ingrained that it was almost as if Crystal Cove, Rocky Beach, Sleepyside-on-Hudson, Oak Falls, Penfield, Bayport, River Heights, the _Rancho del Sol_ , Kirrin Cottage, Kirrin Island, Witchend, Seven Gates, _The Gay Dolphin Hotel_ at Rye and the areas of London around Sheldrake Grammar School and Old Park House were mini-Storybrookes. That is, that the Young Adventurers had come into this world from a Realm of Storytelling, like the Enchanted Forest, Neverland, Wonderland, the Land of Untold Stories, the Land Without Colour and the Wish Realms. Rex noted that, compared to chasing a monkey through the streets of London in swimming trunks and luminous paint in December, being fictional almost seemed _tame_. Louise and Jean both agreed, since teenagers regularly catching art thieves and kidnappers was hardly _normal_ either.

"We could do that," Rex agreed. "The scanning array on the young girl is top notch."

"I wish we had it in the 1930s and 40s, when we first started out," Louise agreed. "Uncle Ned would have loved it!" After being orphaned in infancy, she and Jean had been raised by their father's brother and sister. The former had been the captain of the passenger steamer _The Balaska_. "Not so much the scanning array as the boat!"

"The same for me in the 1950s and 60s," Rex admitted. "This Royal Jelly Honey might keep us young, but honestly we do feel old sometimes!"

"Youngster!" his wife retorted, to general amusement.

 _Culver Bay, Dorset, two days later_

"It is always great to see you all, Uncle Rex, Auntie Louise, Cousin Harriet," Joe McClaine said, as the three came out of George's house Kirrin Cottage, having just arrived through the portal from the Dana House at Oak Falls. "Are you here for the _Balaska II_?"

"We are, Joe," Rex smiled at the World Intelligence Agency's Most Special Agent, codenamed Joe 90. Now nearly 16, Joe lived with his adopted father Professor Ian "Mac" McClaine in the thatched cottage nearest to George's in Culver Bay. Below the cliffs, the boathouses that held the _Balaska II_ , a midsized yacht, and the larger yacht _Nike_ were located.

" _Cool!_ Well, I wish you all luck in whatever you need her for."

"We are trying to find Rita Skeeter's mystery American backer, Joe," Louise explained. "If the _Balaska II_ is in New York Harbour cloaked, we can scan sea and air for the Furies to see if anyone _visits the Big Apple tomorrow. Then we see if the Furies can gather evidence to present to the Wizengamot._

"I doubt that the conservative purebloods would be the sort to appreciate that they could be accused of the same thing as they are accusing Hermione of. In fact, I think most would turn their ire towards Ms Skeeter herself…"

"Based on my experience of them, darling, I agree that Ms Skeeter will be _persona non grata_ for quite some time, but they will try to put the blame on her.

"As for their attacks on Hermione, well, they have proof positive that _muggle filth_ is indeed polluting their world. If the Potters and Weasleys are the main source for such pollution, why should the fact that they themselves were more of a contributing factor this time change their narrative? These are bigots, Louise love. How did that MAD Magazine from your side of the Pond put it?"

" _You can never win with a bigot!_ "

A few minutes later, they had finished taking the zigzag pathway to the base of the cliffs. Once they were in the _Balaska II_ , Rex and Louise went to the bridge. Joe operated the door controls manually for the boathouse and then waved as the yacht's turbines powered it out onto the sea. Harriet waved back from the deck.

As Rex drove the boat, Louise flicked a switch under the dashboard to reveal a couple of concealed control panels behind sliding panels in the walls. She pressed a button on one of these panels to slide back a further panel to reveal the monitor screen behind it. A second button opened a secure Skype link with a pulse-hardened laptop at _The Alchemists Arms_.

" _Permission to come on board, Ma'am?!_ " Ron asked with a mock salute.

"Of course, Ron. I'll be in the portal room in a few minutes." Louise ended the call, then went down below decks and opened a secret door into the portal room, where four portal mirrors were found, alongside fore and aft doors to the loading bay and the diving equipment store and its adjacent airlock with a concealed underwater exit. One mirror glowed white and Ron, Hermione (with Hope in her arms), Hugo, Luna, Rolf, Lorcan, Lysander, Padma, Parvati and Zelena trooped through.

Ron went up on the foredeck, as Louise joined Rex back in the bridge. At a signal from her to indicate that there was nothing in the vicinity, Ron tapped the prow with his wand and intoned " _Portus!_ " In an instant, the _Balaska II_ was transported to an area of sea just off the coast of Maine, empty of all ships bar the _Jolly Roger_. Henry Mills (the version married to a pregnant Ava) raised the Snow Queen's Scroll, causing Storybrooke Harbour to appear on the shore.

Once the _Balaska II_ was docked, the party went to Granny's Diner for a hearty meal of lasagne, salad and garlic bread. "Are we all set for tomorrow?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, Hermione dear," Parvati responded. "Tonight, we Disillusion the _Balaska II_ and cast her off for the short journey to New York Bay. You and Ron can use one of the portals to drop Hugo, Harriet and the boy twins off at the _Seraphina Picquery_. Rex and Louise use those muggle scanning thingies to see if they can find anything that might be our person or persons unknown, then Padma and I contact our fellow Furies in the Invisible Jet. We then try to get the evidence that we need by sending down a Disillusioned Fury with a magical camera.

"This plan is simple but elegant. Hopefully it works at least as well as we expect."

"Then," her twin added, "we try to persuade the Wizengamot of the Truth…"

The following morning, outside the Kilns, Harry gathered his other allies together. Millie, Pansy, Ginny, Daphne, Tracey, Astoria, Susan, Alicia, Katie and Gabrielle spun themselves into Wonder Witch and all bar two of the Furies. Although neither the new mother Daphne and the pregnant Susan were on the active duty roster (Susan's armour had magically adapted to take account of the small baby bump that was just developing), both could telepathically pilot Wonder Witch's Invisible Jet if required. Once everyone was ready, they hugged and kissed Harry, Wednesday, Draco, Neville and Hannah goodbye, before boarding the Invisible Jet, setting the full Stealth Mode to make the occupants as invisible as the plane itself and taking off for New York.

Meanwhile the Disillusioned _Balaska II_ entered New York Bay and anchored in a quiet spot. In the bridge, both Padma and Parvati were already suited and booted as Justice and Grace of the Furies. As Rex and Louise monitored the scanners, Justice touched the Caduceus symbol on her tiara.

"The Invisible Jet has arrived. From our position just off the shipping lanes and theirs away from the major flightpaths, we should be able to monitor the skies."

"So," Ron said softly, "if our mystery money man does live outside New York, we should find him if he arrives by sea or air…"

"Remind me never to get a job as an air traffic controller!" Rex complained three hours later. "All we have identified so far are regular flights into New York airports!"

"You and me both, my love," Louise seconded fervently.

" _Fossilised Fishhooks!_ What's that?! That blip over Queens doesn't look right somehow. It isn't using the standard flightpaths and doesn't seem to be heading towards any of the airports.

"Grace, Justice, could one of you contact your fellows in the Invisible Jet and ask them to take a look please?"

"Of course, Rex." Grace touched her tiara's Caduceus symbol. "Wonder Witch says thank you for the information, Rex. They are on their way to check. Further details to follow!"

As the Invisible Jet headed towards Queens, Wonder Witch gave the order to follow and not intercept the mystery aircraft. Once the vehicle was in sight, the Furies saw that it was a medium-sized private helicopter. Wrath noted the alphanumeric registration sequence.

"Wrath see if Rex and Louise can trace who owns that helicopter please," Wonder Witch requested. "I think I've seen that logo before somewhere too."

" _Lexcorp!_ " growled the two Milligans in unison as Grace relayed the logo's description.

"According to the registration, it is Lex Luthor's personal private helicopter," Rex noted a couple of minutes later. "It flies into New York from Metropolis every Monday and lands on the helipad on top of _Lexcorp_ 's New York offices."

"When we stopped his stunt with that dragon last July," his wife continued, "Luthor managed to get the charges against him mysteriously dropped a couple of weeks later. You British wizards played a major role, especially Wonder Witch and the Furies. Luthor, to the best of our knowledge, doesn't know who you are.

"If, however, he encountered Rita Skeeter in New York, he knows that Harry and Ron at least were in the party. Why not finance a new newspaper, in which she can turn the British magical establishment against those who foiled him?"

"We shall contact those who know Luthor to see if we are missing something, love. He's vindictive, sure, but he usually only does things he profits from. _The Daily Owl Post_ won't make a massive return on his investment.

"Luthor must have some other interest here. Find that, and we have a case."

"In the meantime," Ron spoke up, "Grace, Justice, ask Wonder Witch to try and get whatever snaps they can of Rita meeting Luthor.

"I can't imagine the conservative purebloods would be happy to find that they have been doing the will of a muggle crime lord. Ms Skeeter is in big trouble, I fancy…"

" _How sad!_ " his wife muttered.

Wonder Witch listened to Nemesis relay the message from Grace. "Right!" she barked. "Tracker and Pursuer, Disillusion yourselves and fly after Luthor's helicopter with a magical camera. Follow him to the ends of the Earth if you need to!

"Lioness, Warrior, do the same, but to Rita's most likely floo destination. Do not engage! I know what you are both like, my dears!

"Finally, Vendetta, Allure, go Disillusioned to the alternative floo destination. We might as well cover all our bases.

"Good luck and God speed, everyone!"

"This is _dull!_ " Warrior grumbled. She and Lioness had found a fire escape overlooking the room with the floo connection in the building Rita was most likely to come to. "Being a superheroine is supposed to be about hitting people, not snooping around with a camera! This is in Rex and Louise's territories, not ours!"

"You are preaching to the converted, dear!

"Hang on! The fireplace has just glowed with green fire! Yes, Rita's through! I'll take a few snaps, while you contact Wonder Witch."

"Righto, Lioness!"

"Our boots are even better for flying than our brooms!" Tracker exulted. "It is a shame that we can't use these openly for Quidditch!"

"It would rather jeopardise that whole _secret identity_ thing, dear!" her friend retorted drily, as they followed the chauffeur-driven limousine Luthor had taken from the local _Lexcorp_ offices, after the helicopter had landed on the rooftop helipad there.

"Wait, they are parking in that carpark, or parking lot as these weird colonial types call them. Our old friend Mr Luthor seems to be going into that nondescript office block. If I didn't know better, I would say that it was a wizard place! That tracking charm I've just cast on his shoes should allow us to locate the room he is going to, Tracker."

"It should indeed, Pursuer. Let's see if we can get some shots of him meeting a certain witch reporter. Then we should be able to get the Wizengamot conservatives off Hermione's back!

"There he is! And look who has just Apparated in! _We have them!_ "

"We have some good holiday snaps of Lex Luthor meeting with Rita Skeeter," Millie noted later, back at the Kilns in her civilian identity. All the Furies, plus Harry, Wednesday, Neville, Hannah, Draco, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Rolf, Rex, Louise, Jean, Linda, Bob and Zelena were gathered in the ballroom. Teddy Lupin and his fiancée Victoire Weasley, who had finished Hogwarts the previous summer, were looking after Lily, Hugo, Harriet, Lorcan and Lysander. Pansy, Daphne and Hermione had Sirius, Dora and Hope with them.

"Given the existence of Polyjuice Potion," Draco pointed out, "the pureblood conservatives could well argue that the photos are faked. That said, the evidence from the Floo Registration Office and the air traffic controllers is compelling. How much store that Patrick Parkinson and his cronies will put in the American no-maj evidence is another matter entirely."

Rex's mobile rang. "Hi David! Do you have that list of recent property transactions made by Lex Luthor in the UK?" After a pause for the answer, Rex continued: "Just the one request for planning permission on land that he is in the process of acquiring? That seems small beer for Luthor! I'll ask our wizard friends anyway. Give my regards to Peter… You too. Goodbye David.

"That was David Morton, everyone," he said after the phone call had ended. David Morton is the Captain of the Lone Pine Club, the team of once teen sleuths that Jon and Penny Warrender belong to and now a respected lawyer. He was married to Petronella "Peter" Morton nee Sterling, the Club's Vice-Captain. "Apparently, Lex Luthor has obtained planning permission for a shopping centre on a patch of land near Ottery St Catchpole. The land is about five miles southwest of the Burrow and the old Lovegood House."

"Isn't that Ministry of Magic-owned land?" Susan asked. "Why would they be selling land to Luthor?!"

"Funnily enough," Draco noted, "it _mysteriously_ also happens to be an area that Patrick Parkinson has been trying to get the Ministry to sell cheaply to Rita Skeeter, so she can build offices and a printing press for _The Daily Owl Post_ there. It is more than large enough for a muggle shopping centre to be built there. Given that it is an area where there is a need for such an establishment to serve the local small towns, villages and farms, I can see why a businessman such as Lex Luthor might see it as an opportunity to add to his real estate portfolio and get a touch of revenge at the same time.

"We can prove that Rita Skeeter is _actually_ the one bringing muggle immorality into the wizard world. Let's present it to the Wizengamot as soon as possible and bring this sordid affair to a close…"

"Thank you, Draco," Hermione replied. "That said, I'm sure that this is not going to change what the conservative purebloods think of me. If I know Rita Skeeter, she will give us a good fight too!"


	6. Chapter 6: Before the Wizengamot

Hermione was busy breastfeeding Hope. Ron was nearby. Their house was heavily warded, so there was no fear of _bugging_ Rita Skeeter-style! It was a moment of repose amongst the firestorm.

Susan and Padma were currently dealing with a further request from Patrick Parkinson's conservative purebloods for a further Wizengamot Committee hearing. They had agreed with Kingsley, Harry, Ron, Hermione and the others to feign reluctance to keep Parkinson, Rita and the rest thinking that they still had the upper hand. In fact, they were putting their case together for confronting Rita and her pureblood supporters with the truth.

With Hugo staying overnight with the Potters and Rose at Hogwarts, it was just the three of them. As Hermione finished feeding her youngest daughter, Ron walked over to kiss first Hope on the forehead and then his wife on the lips.

"Hopefully, this whole business shall be over soon, my darling," Ron said soothingly.

"I hope so, too, Ron, but we need to face the facts. Most of the conservatives will always see me as a _jumped-up mudblood_ , worse a _jumped-up liberal mudblood_ , whatever happens with Rita and _The Daily Owl Post_. We both know that. Yes, Harry and Kingsley will do all they can to shield us, but there will be other attempts to bring me down.

"We can't put Rose, Hugo and Hope through this every couple of years or less, Ron. Something has got to give. Once this is resolved, we need to decide what future is best for our family…"

"Keep still, Hermione!" Parvati chided, as she applied the finishing touches to the robes that her friend was wearing. "I just need to adjust the hemline. There! Done!"

"I don't know what I needed these new robes for anyway," Hermione protested.

"These robes have the Weasley, Potter, Black, Longbottom, Abbott, Bones Shacklebolt, Malfoy and McMillan coats of arms sewn into the fabric," Harry explained patiently. "There are the Patil and Davis ones as well, if you look closely enough. I assume Parvati made these more discrete, as minor houses in Britain at any rate." Parvati nodded, giving Hermione a beaming smile.

"Now," Harry continued, "the conservatives know that you are under the patronage of those Houses, including a number of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Both Potter and Bones are just outside that fraternity too. I don't think it will hurt to remind them just which families are siding with you. These people are obsessed with wizard heritage. They won't want it known that so many major families are siding with you rather than them."

Hermione sighed. The robes were a dark grey, with the various coats of arms across the front. She couldn't deny the elegant simplicity of Parvati's design and craft.

"Thank you, Parvati," Hermione said as she pulled her old dormmate in for a tight hug. "Magnificent as always!"

"Thank you, Hermione."

"Now, we should all be ready for your hearing tomorrow, love," Ron told her. "Just keep calm and be yourself and all should be well again."

"Thank you, darling, but I can't help but feel that your naïve optimism will be somewhat misplaced…"

That evening, there was a gathering in the main conference room at _The Alchemists Arms_. Stephen Strange, Clea, Wanda Maximoff, Jason Blood, Madame Xanadu, Giovanni and Zatanna Zatara, Dr Fate, John Constantine, Harry Dresden, Endora, Samantha and Tabitha Stephens, the three Charmed Ones, Willow Rosenberg, Rupert Giles, Will Stanton, Hadji Quest-Singh, Emma Swan, Regina and Zelena Mills and Gomez, Morticia, Fester and Pugsley Addams were all present. Harry, Ginny, Wednesday, Millie and Pansy Potter were also seated around the round table, as were Bill, Fleur, Ron and Hermione Weasley. Only the largely retired Sar Dubotnal and Mandrake were missing from the general council of the Secret Circle.

"Rita Skeeter teaming up with Lex Luthor to accuse Hermione of introducing _muggle immorality_ into the British wizard world," Willow noted, "must be the very definition of irony. _'I'm using evidence that was given to me by a non-magical foreign crime lord to condemn a witch for bearing a child after being raped by a non-magical foreign crime lord. To make it even more hypocritical, I'll even base it on a no-maj dirty tricks campaign.'_

"If you want her turned into a rat, Hermione, you know where to come. Or a toad. Or even a beetle. Wait, she can turn into one of those herself. Perhaps a cockroach. Yes, I could do that…"

"Breathe, Willow," Rupert sighed.

"Sorry, Giles. I got carried away a bit there."

"That's OK, Willow," Harry Potter reassured her. "Would you, Stephen, Wanda, Zee, John, Jason, Dr Fate, Harry, the Storybrooke witches and the Charmed Ones attend please? Seeing a few heavy hitters present could give the conservative purebloods cause for pause.

"We are confident in our arguments but having you all plus Wonder Witch and a few Furies present can only give us extra strength. A show of arms cannot hurt in the circumstances."

"Exactly, _mon amour!_ Rita isn't exactly a powerful sorceress. She wouldn't be mad enough to attack this company!"

"That sounds reasonable, Harry, Wednesday," Stephen Strange agreed. "As long as the words _Secret Circle_ and _The Alchemists Arms_ aren't spoken in front of those not in the loop, so to speak, and we do not directly interfere in British wizard affairs, I can't see there being any problems."

"Given that you Stephen," Jason Blood noted, "Wanda, John, Zee, Dr Fate, Harry Dresden and I plus Endora are all rated as _'Do not anger at all costs'_ by the White Council, the very presence of most of us should be sufficient. With Willow's connections to the Watchers and the Slayers, in addition to her own great powers as a witch, there won't be any great intention to try it on with her either. As for the Charmed Ones and the Storybrooke folk…"

"We can vanquish wizards just as well as we can demons, Jason," Piper Halliwell assured him. "No offence!"

"None taken, my dear!"

"Now that we can use our magic outside of Storybrooke," Regina added, "we can juggle a few fireballs should we need to. Zelena and I are always up for _breaking hearts_ too!"

"You got it, Sis!"

"Thank you, everyone. It is good to know that so many of you have my back."

"Of course, Hermione," Harry Dresden reassured her. "The conservative purebloods try something against you involving hexes and the Wizengamot Chamber suffers extensive fire damage. No ifs, no buts!"

"You said it, squire! Now, I'm dying for a fag…"

"I can't take you anywhere, my love," Zatanna sighed.

Hermione was standing outside the Wizengamot Chambers. Her new robes were both comfortable and stylish, a tribute to Parvati's talents as a fashion designer.

As Patrick Parkinson walked passed, he sneered at her. "Any plans for spending your forthcoming free time, Mrs Weasley?! You should be having more of it shortly."

"Anyone would think that you were prejudicing the future findings of the committee, Mr Parkinson," Ron snapped, putting his arm around his wife. "That would be rather unbecoming of a chairperson, one might think…"

Before Parkinson could reply, Harry Potter led Stephen Strange, Wanda Maximoff, Willow Rosenberg, John Constantine, Zatanna Zatara, Jason Blood, Dr Fate, Emma Swan, Regina and Zelena Mills, Piper and Phoebe Halliwell and Paige Matthews towards the Chambers. "Chief Auror Potter," Parkinson jeered, "you have brought some of your circus turns with you, I see. Do you really think so little of us to be expecting a riot?!"

"Not at all, Mr Parkinson. These fine people and Wonder Witch and some of her Furies are to be here as official White Council observers, nothing else. If there is violence, they may intervene. Otherwise, just pretend that they are not here.

"You don't want the Wizengamot getting a reputation for parochialism, _do you, Mr Parkinson?!_ "

Parkinson snorted derisively and entered the chambers. Harry gave Hermione a big hug before he led the White Council observers into the chambers, with Ron snogging her senseless before following the party. Millie led Ginny, Pansy, Daphne, Tracey, Astoria, Katie, Alicia, Parvati and Gabrielle down a side corridor to a place where they could spin themselves into costume. Wonder Witch and all bar two of her Furies came out of said side corridor shortly afterwards. Since Padma and Susan were involved with the Wizengamot committee, they obviously couldn't be Grace and Nemesis respectively at the same time. Finally, Neville, Hannah and Draco all embraced Hermione tightly before entering the chambers, as Luna did when accompanying her father, Rex and Louise to the press desks.

Shortly afterwards, Padma stuck her head out of the corridor leading to the chambers. "We are ready for you, Hermione."

To Hermione's surprise, she was led to Court Ten. " _Padma tell me the truth please. Am I being tried before the full Court?!_ "

"No, Hermione. This is just so Parkinson can make you fear that you are. He wants to make you feel powerless before your _conservative pureblood betters_ , as he would put it. There is no great cry for a full impeachment hearing yet and Parkinson knows it.

"As before, keep calm and answer any questions honestly and sincerely. Do that and you should be fine. Good luck, Hermione.

Rather than a chair with magical chains attached, Hermione was led by Padma to a comfortable sofa. Kingsley Shacklebolt, Harry Potter, Susan Bones and Patrick Parkinson were seated at a long table, with the rest of the Wizengamot in their accustomed seats. Rita Skeeter was seated with the press, Hermione noted as Padma took the seat between Susan and Harry at the table.

"Please be seated, Mrs Weasley," Kingsley said in a formal but kindly manner. "This is neither a trial nor a formal impeachment hearing. Are you willing to answer a few questions for us today?"

"Of course, Minister Shacklebolt. I shall be delighted to help the Court in any way."

" _I am sure that you are, Mrs Weasley,_ " snarked Parkinson.

"According to Rita Skeeter, you fathered a child with a muggle crime lord and forced your pureblood husband to adopt her. True or false?!"

"I do not deny that Hope Pansy Weasley is the biological daughter of Buonaparte Ignace Gallia IV, the late muggle smuggler and gangster based in Saint Marie. Ron has adopted her as his. That much is true, which neither of us have ever denied.

"The question is whether _I truly consented to Mr Gallia's advances or did so under duress_. I will deny that I consented, and Ms Skeeter will continue to argue the contrary position. This will not get anyone anywhere. We need to find a way to move on.

"Ron and I have discussed this. You have our resignations from the Ministry, effective immediately."

"Hermione is right," Ron confirmed. "We shall clear our desks as soon as this hearing is over. Having been offered new opportunities by the White Council, it is time for us to move on.

"Rose, Hugo and Hope will continue to be our top priorities. Both Hermione and I thank the Ministry and the Wizengamot for the opportunities that they provided to us."

"Thank you, Mr and Mrs Weasley," said Parkinson, with barely concealed glee. "We shall begin the process of looking for your replacements. I am sure that everyone will wish you luck in your future endeavours.

"The British wizard world has been saved from _pollution by muggle moral filth_. That concludes this…"

"Mr Chairman," Susan interrupted, "on that matter, I must make an announcement. Wonder Witch and her Furies have provided evidence that Rita Skeeter has been colluding with a muggle crime lord from the United States named Lex Luthor. He has been providing her with funding and tips on how to conduct a dirty tricks campaign in exchange for getting his hand on cheap land currently owned by the Ministry of Magic.

"This file includes details of mysterious regular floo visits to New York, photographic evidence of Ms Skeeter meeting Mr Luthor and magical and muggle records pertaining to the land transactions. There are also examples of such _weaponised press and other media campaigns_ in the No-Maj United States. What were you saying about _pollution by muggle moral filth_ , Mr Parkinson? Ms Skeeter is a far worse offender than she has accused Mrs Weasley of being…"

" _Rita is this true?!_ " demanded a furious Patrick Parkinson, turning towards the press box.

Rita merely transformed into her water beetle Animagus form and flew away. "I think that answers your question, Mr Parkinson," Kingsley observed dryly.

"Any changing your minds now that Rita has gone into hiding?" Ginny asked Ron and Hermione that evening. There was a private "leaving do" at the Kilns for the couple. "According to the Doctor, you have unfinished business, Hermione."

"Ah," came the familiar Yorkshire tones from behind Ginny, "I never said that the _unfinished business_ would be achieved at the Ministry of Magic. Hermione Weasley can achieve more at the White Council than at the Ministry.

"Remember, Ginny, the British mages tend to be highly conservative and keep one foot in the past. Your sister-in-law is a liberal with both eyes gazing into the future. If it wasn't this regrettable affair, something would have convinced Ron and Hermione that their future lay elsewhere."

"I suppose that exactly what Ron and I do, Doctor, is a _Spoiler_ ," Hermione sighed. "With three kids to look after now, though, we needed to escape from the sneering conservative purebloods for the time being at least. The White Council is starting a new commission of House Elf Rights and a Mage version of Interpol. We are obvious choices for Commission Chair and Director of Operations respectively.

"All in all, we got dream jobs and Rita is a pariah amongst Parkinson's faction. They got rid of Ron and me but are laughing stocks. Neither side really won and neither side really lost."

"Real life is messy like that," the Doctor agreed. "This was never going to be ending in a pitched battle between Team Potter and Team Skeeter with True Love Conquering All. Press dirty tricks campaigns and orchestrated faux-moral outrages rarely have Happy Ever Afters. These are not Fairy Tales."

"More is the pity," said Regina Mills as she sipped Prosecco. "Political Thrillers and Fairy Tales don't get on usually. They thrive on Hopelessness and us of course on the opposite."

Meanwhile, Zelena was chatting to Rex and Louise. "It is always a pleasure to see you, my pretties."

"Likewise, Zelena," Rex responded with a smile. "We must take the _Balaska II_ to Storybrooke Harbour this weekend. Ron and Hermione have some free time before they start their new jobs and could do with a cruise anyway after the last few weeks.

"Henry and Ava seem to love looking after Harriet, Robyn and the twins. They will be great parents when their child…"

"It is a son. Daniel Baelfire Mills is to be the name. They told us at a family dinner a couple of nights ago."

"Great! Pass on our congratulations, please."

"I will, Louise. Thank you both. Give my love to Jean, Linda and Bob when you next see them."

"I'm sorry, Rita my dear. We should have realised that Team Potter were more cunning than we gave them credit for being."

"Don't apologise, Lex. I should have remembered how cursedly resourceful Wonder Witch and her Furies are. The Weasleys and Potters are not to be underrated either."

"Took your time to realise that, _pal!_ " A very tall man with a hangdog face was present in the room with a _bang_.

"My name is Harry Dresden. Mr Luthor, after twice getting involved with witches and wizards, you are on the MACUSA and White Council watchlists now. Any further interference in mage affairs would invite serious consequences.

"In short, if you find me here again, you had better have good fire insurance! _Good evening, pal!_

"Miss Skeeter, you are _persona non grata_ in the British Wizard World. I would watch your step if you return to Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade. Take heed of this friendly warning…"

Another _bang_ and Harry Dresden had vanished. "It makes a change from Superman or Batman," Lex Luthor sighed.

"Well, Ms Skeeter, we have been warned by the White Council…"

Patrick Parkinson was talking to Algernon Runcorn. "You should end _The Moral Mage_ , Runcorn. It is time to distance us from anything like a muggle media hate campaign, now that we know where Rita got her inspiration from. We are looking like fools."

"I disagree, Parkinson. The strategy seemed to be working. Indeed, both Weasleys have resigned, as we both wanted.

"If something works, why change it? This episode caused more damage to the Potter Agenda in the Ministry than anything else we have done since the Battle of Hogwarts over twenty years ago."

"At the cost of our ideological purity, Runcorn? That is too high a price for me to pay. Most pureblood conservatives on the Wizengamot agree with me."

"That is the past, Parkinson. Did you see Hermione Weasley's robes? _Greengrass, Davis, even Malfoy were openly supporting her!_ We will never win in the Wizengamot Court now. The Court of Public Opinion is where we must triumph. Without _The Moral Mage_ , your Great Old Cause is lost!

"I don't want to split the pureblood conservatives, but we of the younger generation realise that yours has had its day. We must adapt or die out. The pureblood cause must not be allowed to go extinct."

"You have the free run of Potter Island for as long as you want," Harry assured Ron and Hermione, the latter with Hope cradled in her arms. "Hugo can stay with us indefinitely too!"

"Thank you, Harry," Ron said, embracing his brother-in-law. "We do need a break before we start our new jobs next month. After we return from a short break with the Milligans and Dana-Craigs on the _Balaska II_ in Storybrooke Harbour, we shall spend a week on Potter Island as just the three of us."

"A great idea, _mon vieux! Have a great time!_ "

"After we get back from the break," Hermione noted, "it should be time for Hope's Christening. We need a family celebration. After all, strengthening our family is the battle that we did win…"


	7. Epilogue: The Baptism of Hope

_Early April 2019_

"God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness," the vicar intoned, having given Ron a lighted candle, "and has given us a place with the saints in light. You have received the light of Christ; walk in this light all the days of your life."

"Shine as a light in the world," the congregation responded, "to the glory of God the Father."

"Go in the light and peace of Christ."

"Thanks be to God."

Hermione smiled. With those words the simple service of Morning Worship incorporating the Baptism of Hope Pansy Weasley was coming to an end. The whole thing had gone magnificently. True, neither Pansy nor Harry had looked overly thrilled to promise to "turn away from sin", but neither had made any protest either. Both knew that Hermione was a devout, if decidedly _Broad Church_ , Anglican. To have her third child baptised (and Harry was Godfather to Rose and Hugo, so knew what to expect) was of importance to her. As a Catholic, Florence Cassell was considerably more comfortable than either the pagan Pansy or the atheist Harry at making such promises. Ron also had done his usual top job of blending in well with the congregation, despite minimal belief in any deity or deities whatsoever.

" _Blimey_ , love, your cousin does look remarkably like you," Ron remarked yet again. Indeed, the vicar leading the service did closely resemble her cousin Hermione. "She is almost as pretty as the most gorgeous woman in the world…"

" _Your luck is in tonight, Ron!_ Yes, cousin Emma narrowly missed out on becoming the first female Bishop in the Church of England a few years back, and to a Reverend Granger, as it happens. The latter is no relation, as far as I know. Emma is from my mother's side of the family.

"Come on, Ron darling. There should be quite a spread in the Church Hall. My mother is in the local Mothers' Union."

"Thank you for asking me to be Hope's Godmother," Florence said, hugging Hermione tightly. "It is a great honour to be asked.

"Hopefully, your new job shall take you to Saint Marie at some point."

"There are hardly any mages on Saint Marie, Florence, with only a couple having House Elves. I shall visit in a private capacity on a more regular basis, I fancy!"

"As long as you and your family _do_ visit, Hermione…"

"That was lovely, Rex," Louise noted. "You Anglicans have a certain way of combining Catholic liturgy with Protestant theology."

"Anglicans and Methodists do have a certain reluctance to go Fully Reformed, darling. I guess that we English naturally dislike Extremism. Possibly that is why the Cromwellian Commonwealth survived old Oliver by less than two years.

"Also, we do have a certain appreciation for timelessness. That is why we invented cricket."

"That seems eternal, _mi amigo_ ," Linda quipped.

 _A week later, The Burrow_

"We will miss you," Molly sobbed, embracing Rose. "I know that you shall only be a portkey or a portal away, but still…"

"The United States isn't next door, Nan. Of course, you are sad. Don't worry though, as we shall see you often.

"I'm staying at Hogwarts during term times. As a British-born witch, I was given the option to stay, even though Mum and Dad are decamping to the States. Uncle Rex and Auntie Louise found them a house at Oak Falls, near the old Dana House. Hugo can easily take the portal to the _Serafina Picquery Elementary School_ from there. He shall be joining me at Hogwarts from September anyway.

"Mum and Dad have their dream jobs and no longer have to put up with the _odious oiks_ at the Ministry and on the Wizengamot. Sorry, I must have been spending too much time with Uncle Rex…"

"You are right, Rosie. Your Mum and Dad need a new start." Molly dried her eyes. "It is for the best. Hope springs eternal."

"You couldn't have chosen a better name for our youngest, dearest," Ron murmured, pulling his wife and baby daughter into his arms. "She really is a beacon of hope, despite the horrors of her conception and the machinations of Rita, Parkinson, Runcorn and the rest."

"I have never been gladder that Dad disowned me," Pansy echoed from nearby. "Pansy Parkinson was an arrogant entitled bully. As Pansy Potter, I am a wife, a mother and even a superheroine.

"Everyone, a toast! _To family!_ "

" _To family!"_

Author's Comments

Firstly, the liturgy at the beginning of this epilogue is taken from _Common Worship_ without permission.

Secondly, thank you to my fellow author Model Builder for his usual feedback and encouragement. It really did clarify my mind on writing a story with something of a pyrrhic victory at best for our heroes.

This wasn't an easy story to write, but I trust it proved to be a timely one. Weaponised social media is the stuff of headlines…

Thank you for reading.


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